Shirley this must be a record

"My mother loved Shirley Temple, that's how I got my name," says Shirley Richardson, coordinator of a group of Victorian women who belong to a club exclusively for people named Shirley.

Several among those who will meet tomorrow for a Shirley Club Christmas luncheon at the RACV Club in Elizabeth Street cite the 1930's Hollywood child star who grew up to become a US ambassador. They were either named for her or noted that they were not. "There's not a great deal of young Shirleys, of course," says Ms Richardson, who has a hobby farm at Tarneit, north-east of Werribee, and works part-time in a city office. "The name just isn't in vogue anymore. Before Shirley Temple and after Shirley Temple . . ."

Ms Richardson founded the 180-strong Victorian branch after learning that a Shirley club had been founded in Perth about five years ago. Today there are branches in most states and territories, with about 1000 Shirley members in Australia and New Zealand.

Ms Richardson says Shirleys are "outgoing people, love company (and are) always ready for a good laugh and a giggle . . ."");document.write("

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Shirley Neil, from Arthurs Creek, says the name means "sunny, bright meadows". "So you have to be happy with a name like that don't you," she says.

Shirley Winstanley, of Glen Waverley, agrees that "we all like a bit of a laugh". "I'm just a widow and I'd probably sit at home if I didn't have something like this," she says.

Ms Richardson says the Shirley Club made it into the Guinness Book of Records for gathering a record number of people with the same name at a national convention in Alice Springs last year.

Some Shirleys who had not met since childhood had been reacquainted; others who had not known each other previously had travelled together interstate and overseas .

"I've just come back from Perth," says Shirley Christensen, from Chelsea. "It doesn't matter what state you go to, you can meet Shirleys."

Shirley McLaughlin, of Reservoir, says she was born before Shirley Temple and "where Mum got the name from, I don't know".

Shirley Norton, of Wonthaggi, says: "I just think all Shirleys are bright and bubbly." She was youngest of six girls and four boys and "Shirley was the only name left".

Husbands and others who had travelled with them to Alice Springs had formed their own, Non-Shirley Club, with a banner "made out of men's jocks with a bow".

Retired electronics engineer Norm Skeen, 70, from Coburg, says he is "chief chauffeur, escort et cetera" to wife Shirley and says the Shirleys are "the noisiest group of people I've ever met".

"When you have to leave, say of an afternoon, you just turn around and say, 'Goodbye Shirley'," he says. "You don't have to worry about saying anything else. You get a chorus of answers."